Sports Fact of the Day 4/18/2007

4/18/1947:
Benny Leonard, the underfeated lightweight champion of the world from 1917 to 1925, collapses and dies in the ring while refereeing a prizefight at St. Nicholas Arena in midtown Manhattan. It's the sixth bout that Leonard has worked this evening in a hot, smoke-filled fight club. The cause of death is a brain hemorrhage; his age is 51. Arguably the greatest lightweight champion and Jewish pugilist in history, Leonard fought over 200 times and lost only five.

Birthdays:
Don Ohl b. 1936
Pete Gogolak b. 1942
Wilber Marshall b. 1962
Rico Brogna b. 1970
Haile Gebrselassie b. 1973